The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-11-05
What Will Congress EDO With
the Surplus.

The most exciting question of the
coming Congress will be that of dis
posing of the immense surplus rev.
enue that we are collecting from the
people-or rather OF preventing its
accumulation beyond the needs of
the Government.
There are five different plans as
pointed out by the New York Her
aid for doing this:
l. Mr.. Carlisle proposes, for the
revenue reformers, to remit taxation
by increasing the free list, making
duty free a number of raw materials,
such as wool, which now pay duty,
and also repeating the internal taxes
on tobacco.
2. Mr.. Randall proposes to repeal
and abolish the whole internal rev.
enue system, which would cut off at
a blow the entire surplus revenue.
Some prominent republicans favor
this plan also.
3 A considerable number of the re-
publicans in Congress seem to favor
the repeal of the sugar duty and of
the tobacco tax, which also would
sweep away the surplus, or nearly
so.
A. At the recent Bankers Conven-
ton at Pittsburg Mr.. John J. Knox,
for many years Comptroller of the
Currency, developed proposition
to refund the whole debt in two and
half per cents, paying the present
holders out of the surplus revenues
cash premium for their consent.
He showed that the taxpayers would
gain by this transaction, and he
suggested that during the three
years which it might be made to
cover plan could be devised for re-
forming the revenue laws.
g. A considerable part, probably
a majority, of the republicans in
Congress agree with Senator Evarts
that the surplus taxation is only a
flea bite, not felt or complained OF
by the people; and they hold that
the present tax and tariff system
shall be maintained and that the
surplus, when there is any, shall be
spent for pensions, for coast defence
for internal improvements and fol
public buildings, and thus returned
to the peoples pockets as fast as il
is collected. This view has a good
many friends among the democrats
also, and it will probably have the
favor of the labor party and it's rep
resentatives.
1t will be seen that there are re.
ally two sets of opinions. On one
side there are those who would stor
collecting surplus; on the other
those who would go on collecting it
but spend it for public ends.
The difficulty with those who
would stop collecting surplus taxes
is that they do not agree on the ar
ticles to be struck from the present
tax list. Some want to abolish The
whole internal taxes; others want tt
strike raw materials from the duty
list; yet others propose to make su
gar free and repeal the tobacco tax
1t does not seem easy for these three
sets of philosophers to come to al
agreement, for each has an after
thought and wants to accomplish
something besides the reduction o
taxation.
Still, it is certain that those VIII,
want to spend the surplus can nor
easily unite on plan than thos
who, in different ways, want to Gu
it off. They have only to agree to
gether, and agree as to what proper
ton each will be satisfied with, an
If they can thus pull together the
will present a very formidable fore
in both houses-many believe ma
ljority. On the other side agreemen
seems impossible, unless it be to rt
peal the tobacco taxes.
4 The coming session promises t
be one Of the most lively and exci'
ing since the war.